here they are:
"Wish I Knew You" by The Revivalists: This is only the third song that The Revivalists have a had an adult alt radio hit with, yet they're already starting to make changes to their music! The Revivalists first two hits made me believe that they were a New Orleans R & B band. While they are from New Orleans, "Wish I Knew You" proves that R & B is not the only genre they like. It still has jazzy sax parts and a funky backbeat, but its guitar playing is decidedly folky in comparison to their other two hit songs. "Wish I knew you when I was young, we could have got so high", David Shaw soulfully croons during the chorus. Before any you of you go off assuming that this song is about drugs, it is probably more of a spiritually yearning sort of song about wanting to get to know someone before he/she passed away.
"Wristband" by Paul Simon: With alternative metal band Disturbed having had a surprise hit this year with a cover of Simon and Garfunkel's "The Sound of Silence", perhaps it only figures that Simon himself was also inclined to make a record this year, perhaps in part because of his song becoming a hit again after many decades (Simon said that he liked Disturbed's version of his song in a recent interview). "Wristband", though, is neither folk nor metal. Instead, it is a song that retains the rhythmically driven African roots sound that Paul Simon cultivated on his "Graceland" record. The lyrics of "Wristband" also have a similarly spiritual theme to what a lot of the "Graceland" songs had, revolving around a place where "if you don't have a wristband, you can't get through the door" (Heaven, perhaps?) With Simon's mention of St. Peter and the Pearly Gates during one of the verses of "Wristband", it seems pretty likely that he's referring to the celestial abode of the Man Upstairs.
"You And I" by Margaret Glaspy: A raspy voiced white girl leading Alabama Shakes? A young woman leading T. Rex? These descriptions would probably sound farfetched for any other song except for this one, the debut song from sassy, rockin' California native, Margaret Glaspy. If this song has anything to teach us, it's that looks can be deceiving! With her petite, demure appearance, you'd probably expect her to be a folksinger of some sort, but she isn't. Her lyrics are pretty sour as well, especially when she bluntly states that she "doesn't give a f**k". Elsewhere in the song, Glaspy basically cuts her ex-lover down in just two and a half minutes!
